41 Leftover Ham Recipes for the Days After the Holiday Feast
However you slice it, a holiday ham is big, so you’re going to have a lot of leftovers. Luckily, these leftover ham recipes mean you can eat well through the rest of the year, no matter how bad your holiday burnout may be.
This list has tons of leftover ham ideas so that you can repurpose your honey-glazed honker into plenty of delicious meals, from a simple yet satisfying croque monsieur to a comforting pot of kimchi mac ���n’ cheese to a Christmas-brunch-ready green eggs and ham casserole. With cheesy hand pies, cozy baked potatoes, and easy sandwiches galore, we’ve got all the leftover ham recipes you need to make the most of that roast. Not all of these recipes call for leftover ham explicitly, but with a little creativity, you’ll be able to make ham happen. (You don’t need to twist our arm to add some chopped ham to a bowl of creamy pasta, for example.)
Wondering how long you can keep this leftover party going? According to the USDA, ham can be kept in the fridge 3–5 days after the main event or frozen indefinitely (though its quality is best within 1–2 months).
Christopher Testani1/41BA’s Best Breakfast Sandwich
For the morning after the big day. The recipe may call for sausage, but crispy fried ham is a welcome addition to any breakfast sandwich.
- Alex Lau2/41
Turmeric Fried Eggs With Kale, Yogurt, and Bacon
Breakfast bowls shouldn’t take 2 hours to make; this one is ready in about 20 minutes.
- Peter Frank Edwards3/41
Fancy Grilled Cheese with a Fried Egg
Add a savory, porky slice of ham to this classic sandwich for an easy level up.
- Photo by Alex Lau, styling by Judy Mancini4/41
Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
Give your knife a few swipes on the sharpener and try to slice the grilled tenderloin as thinly as possible (think roast beef from the deli). It’ll make these open-faced pork sandwiches a lot easier to eat and such a difference in texture.
- Photo by Heami Lee, food styling by Judy Haubert, prop styling by Rebecca Bartoshesky5/41
Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese
Ham is a welcome addition on a grilled cheese. Don’t rush the cooking process on this one. Moderate heat allows the cheese inside to fully melt without burning the outsides.
- Photo by Chelsea Kyle6/41
Adult Mac and Cheese
Our creamy stovetop mac and cheese is about as easy as opening a box—and a whooooole lot more delicious. Add cubed ham for added chew and protein.
- Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Micah Morton7/41
Cheesy Tomato Hand Pies
This portable pocket of cheesy goodness tastes like your favorite pizza toppings found a puff pastry home.
- Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Susie Theodorou8/41
Chickpea Pancakes With Greens and Cheese
This recipe covers pretty much all of our working-from-home lunch criteria: it’s cheesy, packed with greens and protein, and topped with hot sauce.
- Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kate Buckens9/41
Ham and Cheese Feuilleté
These ham-and-cheese bites are the perfect cocktail party appetizer.
- Photo and Food Styling by Emma Fishman10/41
One-Pot Kimchi and Squash Mac and Cheese
This is a “necessity is the mother of invention” kind of recipe, born from isolation, scant ingredients, an oversupply of kimchi, and sheer hunger. Yet this unconventional one-pot approach also happens to be one of the simplest ways to prepare mac and cheese.
- Gentyl & Hyers11/41
Grilled Cheese with Peak Tomatoes
Sweet and juicy tomatoes play nicely with the depth of a honey-glazed roast.
- Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou12/41
Fried Bologna Sandwich
And we've got a genius trick to prevent the edges of the bologna from curling up when they fry.
- Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Jennifer Ophir13/41
Basically Croque Monsieur
Like a hot ham and cheese sandwich, but slathered with cream sauce and baked to bubbly perfection. (Yeah, it's as good as it sounds.)
- Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Pearl Jones14/41
Big Ass Beach Hoagie
Your answer to the age-old question "What can I make ahead of time and throw in my bag to feed myself (and, okay, my friends) when we finally make it to the beach/park/festival/fireworks?"
- Alex Lau15/41
Ham and Cheese Toasties in a Bread Basket
Getting the bread out of the crust is a little tricky for this recipe, but once you do, you’ll be wondering what else you can stuff in there.
- Elizabeth Cecil16/41
Eggplant and Country Ham Ragù
Between the eggplant, tomato, fish sauce, and cured meat, that savory depth of flavor hits you from all sides.
- Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Pearl Jones17/41
Ham, Cheese, and Onion Empanadas
Like your empanadas fried? This dough was specifically developed to withstand hot oil, and it works beautifully with any filling of your choosing.
- Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kate Buckens18/41
Greens Eggs and Ham
This weekend brunch project is a springtime party showstopper.
- TED CAVANAUGH19/41
Smoked Cheddar and Ham Toasties with Fig “Mostarda”
Comfort food wins 100% of the time, and this update on the grilled ham and cheese takes things up a notch. Made with an easy-to-make but seriously impressive fig mostarda, and layered with ham and slices of smoked cheddar, it’s the kind of sammie you can make a meal out of.
- Alex Lau20/41
Pinto Bean and Ham Torta
These fillings would also work wrapped up in a tortilla or lavash.
- 21/41
Chicken Cordon Bleu
This classic recipe features chicken breasts stuffed with thin slices of ham and cheese that are then coated in breadcrumbs and pan-fried.
- Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Yekaterina Boystova23/41
Arroz con Gandules (Rice With Pigeon Peas)
This deeply flavorful Puerto Rican rice dish is to pernil as stuffing is to turkey—a holiday meal wouldn’t be the same without it.
- Photo by Chelsie Craig, styling by Judy Mancini24/41
Eggs Benedict for a Crowd
Poaching eggs in advance. A hollandaise that will stay luscious for hours. A tray of perfectly toasted, buttery muffins. Yep—it’s all here.
- Elizabeth Cecil25/41
Croque-Madame With Cranberry-Mustard Relish
You know how the cheese sometimes oozes out of a grilled cheese while it’s cooking and gets all brown and crunchy when it hits the skillet? Well, this open-face sandwich recipe is dedicated to making that happen on purpose.
- Peden + Munk26/41
Croque-Monsieur
Grilled ham and cheese: nothing to scoff at. Baked ham and cheese with velvety béchamel oozing out all over the place: mind-altering.
- Photo by Molly Baz27/41
Blistered Cheesy Peppers
It’s almost silly how easy this dish of impossibly delicious, ooey-gooey cheesy chiles is to execute.
- Photo by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott28/41
BA’s Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Looking to majorly upgrade the classic grilled cheese sandwich? The combined power of mayonnaise and butter is calling.
- Photo by Heidi's Bridge, styling by Anna Billingskog29/41
Stovetop Mac and Cheese
Muenster and Fontina are pretty soft cheeses and can be difficult to grate, so just stick both in the freezer 10 minutes to let them firm up before starting.
- Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman30/41
Inside-Out Kimchi Grilled Cheese
Melty cheese and tangy, crunchy kimchi are a match made in heaven.
- Photo by Christopher Baker31/41
Perfect Baked Potato
Crisp on the outside, pillowy on the inside, and up for dancing with any savory flavor in your fridge or pantry.
- Photographs by Josephine Schiele. Food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich32/41
Ham and Cheese Hand Pies With Honey Mustard
These savory hand pies are flaky, melty, and, thanks to a package of frozen puff pastry and sliced deli ham and cheese, really simple to assemble.
- Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Nicole Louie33/41
Creamed Corn and Pepperoni Grandma Pie
This weeknight pizza introduces the topping you didn’t know you were missing: creamed corn. Blitzing raw corn kernels with ricotta, Parmesan, heavy cream, and olive oil creates a quick and lush creamed-corn sauce. Spicy, salty, and smoky pepperoni complements the creamy sauce, while smoked mozzarella brings an even deeper dimension to the pizza (but regular mozzarella also works). Be sure to top the finished pizza with plenty of bright basil for a super-fresh hit. Although this recipe works best with fresh corn, thawed frozen corn is a fine substitute.
- Claire Cottrell34/41
Broccoli and Cheese Quiche
This is a remarkable quiche recipe for a few reasons: The dough is intentionally generous so that it can be formed into tall walls all around, and the filling is jam-packed full of healthy greens. They balance out the butter and cream, right?
- Alex Lau35/41
BA’s Best Quiche Lorraine
Call it retro if you want—we say this classic bacon and cheese quiche is timeless.
- Alex Lau36/41
One-Skillet Creamy Chickpeas With Eggs and Prosciutto
Chickpeas in a spicy tomato-cream bath are what you need on a weeknight.
- Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Sue Li37/41
Bean and Grain Stew with Garlic and Chiles
It isn’t often we demolish an entire bowl of something without once suspecting that it was vegan.
- Alex Lau38/41
Omelet With Bacon, Mushrooms, and Ricotta
Don’t sweat rolling this into a perfect omelet; just top the cooked eggs with mushrooms and ricotta, and fold like a taco.
- Photograph by Emma Fishman39/41
Cheesy Winter Squash Gratin
You can make this recipe with nearly any winter squash, but delicata or acorn don’t need peeling and will save you prep time and maybe even a little sanity.
- Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Sue Li, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski41/41
Weeknight Beans on Toast
This recipe will make more ragù than you need, but the leftovers can be repurposed as a quick topper for pasta on another night.